Karl Bohnak, Journal contributor

Looking back, it was an interesting year weather-wise. First of all, this past winter featured mild weather and a good deal of snow. The storms often brought a rather wet snow because temperatures were mild. December 2022 came in very close to average, but January and February had well above normal temperatures.

Spring arrived and winter quickly left. A surge of warmth set in the second week of April with the mean temperature the week of April 9 through 15 over 21 degrees above average. Of course, winter made a big comeback three weeks later as a massive snowstorm dropped over two feet of snow at the National Weather Service office on May 1 and 2. The season ended with 265.1 inches of snow–the fourth snowiest winter at the Weather Service since 1979.

Summer 2023 got off to a sizzling start with 10 consecutive days of 80 degrees or above beginning Memorial Day weekend. During this stretch, the mean temperature came in 13 degrees above average.

The month of June was a degree above normal, while both July and August were over a degree below average. There were five 90-degree days, including a September-record 95 on the 4th. The long-term average is three days of 90s per summer.

Moisture was more than adequate this past year. In fact, precipitation for the year will be close to 45 inches, well above the long-term average. The “normal” is just under 37 inches of rain and melted snow annually. This is part of a trend toward wet weather in the Great Lakes. In general, it’s been consistently on the wet side the last decade or so.

However, this fall was dry over much of the eastern U.S. including the Upper Peninsula. Looking ahead, dry weather should continue and that means only light snowfall into the first portion of January.